7 Steps To Recover From ADHD Burnout Using ‘Low Power Mode’

The ADHD burnout cycle is something that many of us know all too well. It can easily sneak in, disguised as excitement, as we rapidly take on new projects and opportunities.

If left unchecked, it can lead to mounting pressure, self-isolation, and a roller coaster of big emotions before we completely shut down, forced to recharge.

As we talked about in episode 219 of the I’m Busy Being Awesome podcast, without awareness of the burnout cycle, it’s easy to find ourselves constantly living within it. But it doesn’t have to be this way.

Today we’re exploring what I call Low Power Mode. This is an effective approach that helps you focus on ADHD burnout recovery, and shift out of these patterns so you can honor your capacity, and work with your brain in a supportive way.

You can listen to the episode above or stream it on your favorite podcasting app here.   

Prefer to read? No problem! Keep scrolling for the entire podcast transcript. 

In Episode #220, You’ll Discover:

• How to identify your non-negotiables and determine what’s truly essential in this season of life
• Recognize whether or not you’re in the burnout cycle, and if so, what stage.
• How to implement Low Power Mode for ADHD burnout recovery so you can recharge while continuing to show up for what matters most.

Episode #220: 7 Steps To Recover From ADHD Burnout Using ‘Low Power Mode’ (Transcript) 

Hello. Welcome back to the podcast. What’s happening with you today? I am very curious to hear what you have uncovered over the past week of inquiry into the burnout cycle.

For those of you who may be new to the podcast or didn’t listen to last week’s episode, in episode 219, we took a look at the ADHD burnout cycle and the different stages that many of us have navigated at some point in our lives.

Last week’s episode was part one of a two-part series all about the ADHD burnout cycle. In that episode, we looked at what the burnout cycle is specifically, and what it often looks like on a day-to-day basis so we can begin raising our awareness of whether we might be navigating burnout in our own lives.

As we talked about, the early stages can be easy to overlook. 

This week we’re diving in further to explore an approach I’ve been using with both my clients and myself to help us better understand where we’re at – and if we are indeed in the burnout cycle. Specifically looking at what we might take off our plates so that we can begin recharging our batteries and approaching our days from a much more resourced state.

What Does ADHD Burnout Feel Like? 6 Different Stages

Here’s a quick reminder of the different stages of the ADHD burnout cycle – and if you missed last week’s episode, I highly encourage you to pop back and give it a listen after you finish this one.

For context, here are the different stages, keeping in mind that they may appear a bit different or in a different order from what I mention specifically. 

Stage 1:

High excitement, overcommitment, and seeking dopamine. This stage often feels good and is SO very easy to overlook.

Stage 2:

Mounting pressure and increased stress. You may notice that you’re running on fumes a bit, and it’s the pressure of deadlines that’s driving you rather than the excitement or the challenge of the new projects.

Stage 3:

This is often when people start noticing the effects of burnout. I think about it as the struggle bus phase because you can clearly notice its impact.

Often, your productivity dips, you may notice your sleep is affected, and often the biggest giveaway – your negative self-talk intensifies, and it’s now become the main driver to getting things checked off the list.

Stage 4:

Complete physical and emotional exhaustion. You may notice you feel more fragile or brittle with decreased resilience and bigger mood swings.

Stage 5:

This may be swapped with the previous stage or kind of intermingle with the previous stage. But it can look like greater isolation and a withdrawal from activities and connections that once filled you up.

Stage 6:

Complete burnout, inability to continue, forced recharge.

–

Again, my guess is that most of you listening have found yourself somewhere in this burnout cycle at some point in your life. You may even be moving through one of those stages right now.

I hope that this increased awareness helps highlight what’s going on for you, and that the approach we explore today will help give you the tools to lighten the load and begin to recharge your batteries just a bit.

A Personal Story On Navigating Burnout

Last week I mentioned that the approach I’m sharing with you today came out of my own experience of navigating some burnout.

I was in the second level or second stage where I noticed myself running on a bit of fumes, and I wanted to pause that progression and reverse it so I could start taking care of myself and not slip any further into the burnout cycle.

So I’m going to give a little bit of context and then we will dive into the strategy.

I am recording this episode toward the beginning of September, and in the last full week of August, I took a week off for vacation with absolutely nothing planned.

Those of you get my emails each week probably heard me mention this. It was a wonderful week of a staycation where my husband Ryan and I explored our new town since we are essentially still quite new to the area after moving here in June, while also doing all of that personal admin stuff.

You know those things you have to do when you move someplace new like getting new license plates, finding your dentist and eye doctor and all that fun stuff.

I needed a break

As I was reaching the end of the week, it dawned on me how much I actually needed that break; I hadn’t really realized that fact yet. 

When I was talking with my coach, she helped me realize that I’ve essentially been going nonstop since about March.

If you’ve been a podcast listener for a while, you’ve probably been following along on this journey a bit, but from March through August, I essentially decided to declutter my house in Massachusetts, put it on the market for sale, sell it, pack up all my things and move halfway across the country to Minnesota.

Then I had to find a house, move in, deal with all the new house stuff. Meanwhile I was launching the June cohort of my small group coaching program, We’re Busy Being Awesome, while developing some other new fun things yet to come in the business.

There was also this wonderful AND very noticeable shift in how I use my time now that I am only 30 minutes from all the people I love rather than a car, bus, and plane flight away.

I get to see them every weekend instead of once or twice a year, which his INCREDIBLE AND a shift in how I allocate my time. And this all happened in a matter of a handful of months.

Now here’s the deal, just as it usually happens with the first phase of burnout, as we talked about all of this was all super exciting. It was all new, I genuinely wanted to do all of it, I was delighted to do all of it; it was all so good.

So with that in mind, I didn’t even have any kind of warning bells or signals that might otherwise come along with things that I genuinely didn’t want to do. This was all fun and delight. This was all a full body “yes.” 

It was also a lot for a body and brain to navigate all at once.

I felt Drained

Toward the middle of August, even though I was still fueled by excitement and delight and I still genuinely enjoyed the process, but…

• My body was tired.
• My body was feeling the stress of the constant demands on my time.
• My executive functions felt drained and all the administrative tasks in my business and the life admin in my home life were all taking longer.
• My sleep wasn’t as good. 

In other words, I was getting all these notifications from my body and my brain that it was time for a break. It was time to slow down. As I realized this I said to my coach, it feels a little bit like the battery on my phone is draining quite a bit.

Feels like I’m in the red. And when I go to sleep or have downtime, it’s enough to recharge the battery a bit for the next day, but I’m not getting the full battery back.

If we think about the analogy of my road trip with my sister and dad, the fuel tank was pretty low. Now, it wasn’t dire.

I still had plenty of energy to show up for my clients, and do my calls, and record the podcast, and spend time with family and friends. But anything on top of the regular day-to-day activities felt like too much.

I didn’t have the energy to… work on the new innovations that I want to introduce in my business and to plan outings or getaways with friends. That extra stuff was a bit too demanding.

Do A Check-In On Your Life Right Now

So with that, I invite you to check in with your own life right now.

• How are you feeling?
• Are there any areas in your life where you feel like you might be dragging a little bit?
• Alternatively, are there areas in your life where you feel incredibly resourced and fulfilled?
• What can we learn from those areas?

If you do notice that you’re feeling a bit drained or a bit limited on energy. If you feel like your battery is a bit lower or your fuel tank is getting close to empty, let’s identify those areas.

Maybe it’s your life in general, or maybe it’s at work, maybe it’s at home, maybe it’s in your social life.

Bringing awareness to these areas and acknowledging them is really important. We want to see it.

We don’t want to just keep plowing through, because that’s what keeps us slipping further into the burnout cycle. Let’s pause and acknowledge what we see and what our body feels.

Navigating ADHD Burnout Recovery

All right, so you have identified the area or areas. You know how you’re feeling. Now it’s time to lighten the load a bit. And when I explored this question for myself, it is when the concept of going into low power mode came to be.

I realized for myself that if my battery seemed to be in the red, and at night or when I’d have some downtime, I’d be able to recharge the battery a couple of percentages, but not nearly enough to be completely full, what I really needed was low power mode so that I could keep all the important things running, but i could also cut out some of the excess that often causes unnecessary battery drain.

I thought to myself, how can I cut out some of the different activities and commitments so that my battery can charge more efficiently when it’s charging?

This is what I’m talking about when I suggest going on low power mode when we’re navigating burnout, too.

The Benefits Of Going on ‘Low Power Mode’

By finding different areas in our lives where we might go on low power mode, we can…

• Reduce some of the activities or tasks that are unnecessarily draining our energy.
• Recharge our batteries more efficiently. We’re able to rest and recuperate more effectively.

Now you may feel some strong resistance to this idea on the surface. Your brain may be thinking, there is no way this is possible. I can’t go on low power mode, I need all of my resources. I need all of my apps running. Everything is important period everything is critical.

That may be. That also means you’re going to drain your battery faster, and we’re going to need some more significant times to plug in and actually recharge.

• What if there are some areas in our life where low power mode is possible?
• What if there are some activities or commitments or projects where we might step back and opt for low-power mode?
• Is it possible that you could find a few areas? 

Frankly, I’m of the mindset that every bit counts.

With that said, I’m going to put a caveat in here: Make sure that when you go on low power mode, and you cut out activities or time commitments or move project deadlines, you don’t use that open space you created to do MORE things.

You’re creating WHITE SPACE.

This space is meant for recharging, NOT for joining a committee…so be on to your brain. I know that tendency all too well – it can be sneaky, so don’t fall for it.

What Low Power Mode Looks Like For Me

What does low power mode look like?

Identify Non-Negotiables

For me, it began with making intentional decisions about what activities were non-negotiable in both my work and home life and what had some wiggle room.

I personally find it helpful to begin with identifying the things that absolutely MUST happen, and I mean MUST. Not “would be nice.” Or “I really should.” But rather “must” in regard to – if I don’t do this I’m unable to function or I’m out of alignment with my values.

These are things like….

• Sleep
• Eating
• Taking care of children or pets if you have any
• Showing up for work when you agreed to if you have a paid position.

When I thought about this question through the lens of non-negotiable for my business my brain first wanted to say, “Everything! It’s all non-negotiable.” But intellectually, when I bring the executive brain on board, I know that’s not true. 

So when I sat with it, I realized the only thing that would go on my absolute non-negotiable list for my business – because it’s in alignment with my values – is showing up for my clients. That’s it.

I really wrestled with this because it feels like this podcast is non-negotiable, especially since I’ve never skipped it. But what helped me create clarity is the question, if I could only do one thing, what would I do? And then it was crystal clear.

If I could only do one thing in my business, it would be supporting my clients every time – no question. And I ALSO know that the first thing I’d add back into the mix is the podcast.

So again, we want to begin by identifying what are the absolute non-negotiables, and an effective way to get really clear on what these are – especially if everything seems equally important – is to ask yourself, “if I could only do one thing, what would it be?“

Recognize the Burnout Stage

Now here’s the deal – if you’ve gone past stages one or two in the burnout cycle. If you’re in three, four, five, or six, I highly suggest you consider tending only to your non-negotiables for a while.

Your body, brain, and nervous system NEED IT. They need the space to recharge. 

I also realize that this is not an option for some people depending on their current season of life and the amount of support they have. So, please be really honest with yourself.

Client Example

I was talking with a client the other day and we were going through this very exercise because – again – it can be REALLY hard to see these facts for ourselves and have an outside perspective on our lives when we’re in it so deeply.

When I was talking with him about what’s absolutely necessary, he mentioned “you know, I don’t think the world will end if I don’t release a podcast this week. It genuinely feels like it might, but when I pause, I know it won’t. So I can probably let that go this week as I heal and recharge a bit.”

So be on to yourself. If you find yourself further into the burnout cycle, seriously consider tending only to those non-negotiables as you recharge.  

Find Wiggle Room

Okay, but what about low power mode? What about when you notice you’re in phase one or two – which – quite honestly, are the phases I think many of us tend to live in and think is just the “normal” way of functioning?

How can we turn on low power mode to reserve our battery, slow things down, and bring our battery back up into the green?

Similar to identifying our non-negotiables, we want to look at our lives and check in with where we may have some wiggle room.

• What are the apps that we don’t need to have running in the background of our lives?
• Which ones can we close out to reserve the energy we have and allow space to recharge even faster?

When I first asked myself this question, my brain wanted to put up a big wall and say nothing. Nothing has wiggle room; you must do all of it. But I knew that wasn’t true.

I knew that was just my black-and-white thinking and the toddler brain throwing a little bit of a tantrum. So, I got curious. And I thought through some different questions with a focus first on my business and then on my personal life.

With both categories, I first asked myself…

What is the low-hanging fruit?

What could I easily remove? Simplify? Ask for help? I sometimes find that when we start with the low-hanging fruit, it gets the ideas flowing.

For example, I had my family over for lunch on Sunday, and one of the low-hanging fruit was asking people to bring different things to contribute for lunch, so I wasn’t responsible for preparing everything. Super easy, and it also made a big difference.

How Can I Make This Easy?

Speaking of easy, that’s the next question that you all know I love so much. Thinking about my business, or thinking about my home life, what would easy look like?

What are the things that seem quite complex, and how could I make them easy? How could I simplify them?

Do I Have High Expectations? If so, where?

I also asked myself, where might I have unnecessarily high expectations right now?

Is there anywhere in my life where I have much higher expectations for myself than I would for anyone else?

Now, I’m not going to lie; I had to sit with this question for a minute because the immediate answer was (not surprisingly) – NO. Everything is 100% necessary, and my standards are already perfectly reasonable. 

Then I thought to myself, is this true?  What if it’s not?

Again, a lot of the wiggle room came with things around the house and my personal life. I found areas where I could ask for help or simply do a little less, and it was just fine.

How Can I Make This Fun?

One area in my business that I found is when I combined the question about expectations with my other favorite question, “How can I make this fun?”

I realized that throughout much of this year, my posting on social media felt more like a chore than something fun. It was a task I had to check off the to-do list at least three times per week, and it really took the fun out of sharing new ideas. 

Then I lowered expectations.

I thought to myself, what if I only post when it’s fun and I feel pulled to share something?

That simple question led me into the world of reels, which has been such a fun space for me to play around.

Now, I’m excited to share ideas because I get to pull in my creativity and play with the challenge of sharing my message in a fun way with music and video. When I combine that with dropping the expectation I must post a certain number of times per week, it’s just fun. 

7 Steps To Focus On ADHD Burnout Recovery

Those are some ways I’ve played around with finding my low-power mode. Now let’s talk about putting this into a similar process for you so you have the step-by-step to help you recharge and step out of the burnout cycle.

Step 1: Identify Your Non-Negotiables

Begin by distinguishing what in your life is genuinely non-negotiable. Think about all the things you’re doing, and then explore what absolutely needs to happen. These are the activities or responsibilities that are essential for your well-being, values, and commitments. 

Think about basic needs like sleep, nutrition, and caring for children, pets, any dependents. And if you’re feeling torn, check in with your work and personal values – what aligns most closely with these values in this season? For all my clients listening, you can check out both the values work and the priorities work we did toward in the workbook to help reveal those values and point you in the direction of what’s most important this season. 

And if you’re feeling stuck, or if you have a sneaking suspicion that your nonnegotiable list is too long, use that clarifying question: “if you could only do a few things in your personal life or your work life, what would they be? If you had to cut everything else back, what would be the thing or things that would stay? This question can really help you cut through the noise and identify what truly matters.

Step 2: Recognize Your Burnout Stage

Take a moment to assess where you are on the burnout spectrum. If you’re in the more advanced stages (three, four, five, or six), prioritize your non-negotiables exclusively for a while. Your body and mind need this time to recover. Be honest with yourself about your current circumstances and support system.

Step 3: Find the Wiggle Room

If you’re in stage one or two of the burnout cycle, OR you feel like your energy management is strong right now and you want to prepare yourself for an upcoming busy season, this is where we find our low power mode.

Look for areas in your life where you might have some flexibility. Just like closing unnecessary apps on your phone or your computer, consider which tasks or commitments you can temporarily dial back or delegate.

Step 4: Examine Expectations

As you look at this list of tasks, I encourage you to also reflect on where you might be holding unrealistic expectations, especially of yourself.

Are you setting standards that are higher for you than for others?

Be open to the possibility that you could reduce the expectations or the amount of energy you’re requiring of yourself.

Step 5: Start with Low-Hanging Fruit

Begin by identifying the easiest changes you can make. What can you remove, simplify, or delegate without causing major disruptions?

For example, in your personal life, asking for help with daily chores or errands can be a quick win.

Step 6: Ask yourself, “What would easy look like?” and “How can I make it fun?

Think about how you can make complex tasks easier.

What shortcuts or simplifications can you apply to your daily routines?

I’m always surprised by the ways we can streamline processes when we use our creative brains to think outside the box and find solutions.

Similarly, think about how you might make something you don’t particularly love more enjoyable. How can you bring in fun and delight to help shift your perspective and experience of doing the tasks you decide to keep in low power mode. 

Step 7: Adapt and Evolve

Remember that implementing low power mode is an ongoing process. It will change depending on your current season of life.

So remind your brain that you don’t have to have it perfectly figured out now. And be willing to iterate. Be willing to try, see what worked, what didn’t and make any necessary adjustments. 

Using Low Power Mode To Reduce ADHD Burnout: 3 Reminders

And then I have three final things to share when it comes to low power mode.

1. Don’t Fill In Your Extra Time with More

First – and perhaps most important of all – just because you’ve implemented low power mode doesn’t mean that you should fill in the white space with more work.

You just worked so hard to create more spaciousness to recharge, so don’t let our brain tell you, “Oh look! Now I have all this extra time. I could totally take on this new project.” No. That is NOT the purpose of low-power mode. 

At the same time, if your brain is like mine, it will absolutely want to fill it in, because that’s what the brain does. It’s used to feeling busy. It’s used to going all the time. It will want to continue with what’s familiar.

If this is the case, and it’s really uncomfortable to simply leave the open space, I’d suggest doing something like I do, which is intentionally planning what I want to do during that rest and recharge time.

So I might decide the specific activity, or I might leave it open but know that I will choose something from from my fun menu, as I talked about back in episodes 211 and 212 of the podcast, all about scheduling time for fun. 

That’s key point number one: you’ve created some white space with low power mode. Don’t let your brain talk you into filling that space with more work.

2. There is Zero Pressure To Go Back To Where You Were

The second key point I encourage you to consider may arise after working with low power mode for a while. You may notice it’s actually pretty awesome living this way.

You may find that – in fact – what you thought was once low power mode is actually how you want to live all the time.

I want to suggest ahead of time, that that’s incredible, too.

In fact, as I’ve been playing around with this concept and going on low power mode, it really helped me identify the tasks that simply don’t need to be done at all, or as frequently or as strictly as I once thought. The freedom to simply let them go is like magic. It opens up so much more spaciousness that I’d been craving and making so much more space for rest. 

So there is ZERO pressure to go back. In fact, I can think of many more compelling reasons to keep it as you live further into the life that works best for your brain.

3. If you’ve Slipped Back Into Burnout Don’t Fret

On the flipside, the third thing is that you may go through this process, recharge your batteries, feel great, and then suddenly find that you’ve slipped back into the burnout cycle. If this happens, that’s okay, too. Nothing has gone wrong. This happens to all of us. 

In fact, that’s one of the key reasons I created the last two episodes… to help raise awareness so we can start catching ourselves earlier in the cycle. Then ultimately find the level of commitment and tasks and projects that work with our individual capacities. 

When seasons change, and responsibilities change, we’ll likely want to reexamine and make adjustments. It’s all part of the process. So give yourself grace and know that you can always come back to these two episodes for a quick refresh on how to take care of yourself.

Next Steps

If you happen to know of anybody who might be navigating burnout right now – whether they have ADHD or not – you might even consider sending them the link to his episode.

Even though I’m talking about ADHD supportive strategies, they can certainly help those without ADHD, too. And I don’t know about you, but I see so many people feeling a bit frayed right now, and I think we could all benefit from going on low power mode for a bit.

So if someone just popped into your mind when I suggested this, maybe send them a link to the episode or screenshot this episode and text it to them so they can find their low power mode settings, too. 

Alright, my friends, that’s going to do it for us this week.

Until next time, keep being awesome. I’ll talk with you soon.

If you’re ready to take these concepts deeper and apply them to your life, plus learn how to support your ADHD in a way that works for YOU, then I invite you to check out We’re Busy Being Awesome, my small group coaching program. If it sounds like a great fit for you, you can add your name to the waitlist so you’re the first to know when the next cohort begins.